Perspective

Chronique

Although released in February 1969, this album had actually been recorded 16 months before it came out, an indication that Decca wasn't of a great mind to keep Nelson in the forefront of the market in the late '60s. Like his previous Another Side of Rick, this had him making ill-advised efforts to modernize his sound with a more orchestrated production, whose nature sometimes verged on the rococo. Nelson did have good taste in selecting material, covering songs by Paul Simon, Richie Havens, Harry Nilsson, and Randy Newman, all of whom (except Simon) were little known by most of the public in 1967; indeed, Nelson covers five Newman songs in a row to end the album, creating the effect of an aborted "Nelson Sings Newman" concept record. Producer John Boylan added most of the remaining tunes, including the odd "Hello to the Wind (Bonjour Le Vent)" (co-written with Nelson), which, with its Burt Bacharach-type piano-based melody and brief interlude of spoken female French narration, might find a comfortable home on some lounge music reissue.

© Richie Unterberger /TiVo